By Candace Navi

A new Sacred Space about Hinduism, organized and created by Rabbi Emily Feigenson, will be opening next Monday on the middle school campus. A Sacred Space educates the Harvard-Westlake community about different religions and cultures, either interactively or by placing religious symbols around the school. Students will find an array of food and incense as well as the opportunity to listen to Indian music.

The Indian Parent Association provided Feigenson with the inspiration and opportunity to share the different aspects of Hinduism with the school, she said.

The Sacred Spaces program has been honored by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Feigenson began the program in 2005 in order to educate the student body about different religions. Interactive activities in the past have included the use of a labyrinth, a complex maze, which is used in some religions as a form of meditation.

“The Sacred Spaces program is not limited to the religious cultures here in Harvard-Westlake,” Feigenson said. She said that the Spaces will make students “accustomed and comfortable with looking at other religious symbols and with hearing someone talk about a different faith. There are many more religions in the world than the ones represented on our campus.”